HYDERABAD: Even as the debate is on about the lead to be taken by the developed world in reducing carbon dioxide emissions, it is not an easy task for the United States to pass a national climate law, unifying different regional laws, says Eric Roston, American expert on climate change issues.
Mr. Roston, a former writer for Time who wrote extensively on technology and energy issues, however, is hopeful that the Climate Bill, passed by the House of Representatives in June this year and sent to the Senate, will become a law by March 2010.
Some Senators representing States with energy resources like coal, oil and gas have concerns about the Climate Bill while others are reluctant to appreciate the seriousness of global warming. Still some others tend to trivialise the concerns of climate change, melting glaciers and rising levels of oceans. But US President Barack Obama clearly understands the problem and is determined to bring about the national policy, he adds.
On his direction, the Environment Protection Agency has released its proposals in September restricting industry and utilities to limit their emission levels within 25,000 tonnes a year by 2011 and advocated clean technologies by private sector. He says that less than 1,000 firms contribute up to 80 per cent of greenhouse gas emissions in the US.
Mr. Roston, who works for a think tank and coordinates with NGOs, White House agencies on climate policy has been touring Indian cities at the invitation of US Consul-General. “People here are more vocal and understand global warming and relate it to extreme climate changes - rising temperature, floods and drought,” he said.
